Executive Chef Van Dam

Executive Chef and Owner of Fork & Knife Catering, Chef Van Dam, always knew that creating art with food was his passion. Throughout his younger years he dreamed of owning a food service business and could be found cooking in the kitchen of his home as early as 12 years old. At only 14 years old, Chef Van Dam took it upon himself to cook his family Thanksgiving Dinner as a one-boy show, and the rest as they say, is history.

Chef Van Dam is a Culinary Diploma graduate of the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver. At the start of his career, he entered the workforce cooking and working his way through management at some of Canada’s largest and most well-known restaurants, beginning with Earl’s when he was 19 years old. He then spent several years running a business owned by his family, a De Dutch Pannekoek House. After his family sold that business, he worked at other big-name restaurants including: Milestone’s, Cactus Club, and The Boathouse.

In 2015 Chef Van Dam made his dream of owning his own Foodservice business a reality. He purchased an already established business, Jeannie’s Catering, and got right to work successfully impressing Jeannie’s Catering’s existing clients, while beginning the process to rebrand the business to Fork & Knife Catering. Chef Van Dam knew from the get-go that Fork & Knife Catering would embrace a culture of quality food, fun, friends and family.

When Chef Van Dam isn’t in the kitchen creating delicious food, which isn’t very often as of late, you will find him spending time with his wife and 5 children, watching sports, or playing poker. Chef Van Dam’s family shares his passion for food and are actively involved in Fork & Knife Catering. He finds inspiration in his loving family, his idols Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay, and Ricardo’s Food magazine. Chef Van Dam takes every connection he has as a learning experience, from the chef’s he has had the pleasure to work with, to his friends and family who help him create new dishes. Every experience he has allows him to build on the foundation of Fork & Knife’s mission and vision to create culinary masterpieces and memorable experiences for its clients.